Mike Holmgren quotes

(Opening… ) The easy thing to write I suppose, or to say, is that we lost another close ball game. That is what has happened the last few times we have been at home, with an ending like that, where we have turned the ball over when we had the ball and we had to go down and score. I personally feel, that this game is a lot different than that, this particular game today. Without singling out any one person, I think the players played a good football game against a good team. But, we fell short. In some ways it is the same, but I think today was quite different in a lot of ways. I was proud of how they played.

(On the play of Seneca Wallace…) Seneca is the obvious. Quarterback is usually the obvious, and I think played well. He played within himself, he made special plays, I think. He threw 3 touchdown passes, no interceptions. It is the type of game you would like to have a quarterback play.

(On whether Wallace played better because he was healthier, or because he made different decisions… ) I think it is both. With experience, and with playing in games, you're going to make better decisions. And, he's healthy. Those two things.

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(On the final sack and fumble…) I don't know exactly what happened, but I would expect that we should pick that up.

(On the effort today…) Those of you who have been around here for a while, know that this is a very, very difficult year. I think the deeper you get into a season like this, it becomes more difficult for the coaches and players. What I have tried to emphasize is the fact that we always fight to the end. This game showed that the players are giving me everything they've got. And that's good.

(On the difference today…) I think we executed. Typically when we do what we are supposed to do and execute, and make our players and our quarterback is on target, we had a couple of third down conversions. That's the way it's supposed to work.

(On the offensive line…) I think the team played pretty well today. The offensive line, we did have some guys down. If you look at the roster at the beginning of the year and where people were playing, I see nobody is in where he started.

(On why the offense played well today… ) I think we have a bigger number of shorter passes in the game plan, would be the biggest thing. I didn't know how we would hold up, quite honestly, against their pass rush, and that was a concern to me. Once we found that Seneca was going to play, and not Matt, then it changes just a little bit on the types of plays and the volume of plays that we might call.

(On the game plan with the running backs…) We started Julius against Dallas. I am trying to even it off a little bit. We had had a plan to play Duckett a little bit today in a regular situation, other than just short yardage. Leonard carried the ball a little bit today, and so it was that type of game. It just worked out that way more than anything. Julius could start next week. This was going to Mo's game to start, and I think he got off to a good start. We've always said that if the momentum is there, we are going to stay with him.

(On the effectiveness of the pass rush…) Again, you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Those plays where the receivers are singled up at the end, it actually wound up costing us. It is never quite as easy as just saying that you have to blitz more. That is a lazy way of thinking. It's football. And when you do blitz, you have to get home, because the guys in the back are vulnerable. And you saw a little bit of both today. We got home some, and then we were vulnerable. On that last drive, I think, you saw a couple of big completions, and that's the way it happened.

(On the improvement on third down conversions… ) Statistically, that is a big part of our season, quite honestly. I think our ranking in the league, it might be dead last. I don't know that for sure, but it is not very good. It is something that has to be looked at and fixed. Now, we're not going to fix it in three games, but in the future it is something that has to be fixed.

(On the play of Deion Branch….) Yeah, I think he was very happy. He was excited about playing against his friends. There is a lot of good feeling on that football team for him. He was a valuable part of their success. It was good to see him have the success he had today. I am sure he feels very good about that. But, again, it is not quite enough from everyone else.

(On whether he knows Steve Sarkisian…) I really don't. I know people that know him, and of course Norm Chow is a good friend of mine, and he worked with Steve.

(On the frustration of the team…) As a coach, I have never just done this for me, contrary to what people might think. I do it because I am a teacher, and I enjoy that part of putting it together. When I go in the locker room and they're happy, I'm happy. They played hard. You would hope that you play to win. The reward comes from winning. Unfortunately, sometimes, but that's the way it is.

About the Seahawks Insider Blog

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.